The present invention relates to monuments in general, and in particular to providing an electronic apparatus used with or integrated into gravestones, cemetery urns, mausoleums, and interior of coffins and other memorials allowing for a visual history of a person with which that particular memorial is associated.
Information displayed on gravestones has remained static and minimal for centuries. Name, birthdate, date of death are the limited legacy most people leave behind for their time on earth. Recently, people have begun personalizing their gravestones with near photographic quality images of their homes, cars, portraits, etc. etched directly into the granite gravestone. Small plaques with swinging covers revealing photographs of the deceased have also begun to appear. In the age of a highly fragmented, diverse, and overly-mobile population, this attention to highly individualized grave markers can be attributed to a desire to enhance one""s sense of immortality in the context that they are likely not being buried in the traditional small town family cemetery plot where everyone knew them. Recent increasing rates of cremation further fragments the xe2x80x9csense of placexe2x80x9d that traditional American burials were grounded in.
In one embodiment, the present invention mounts tastefully onto existing granite grave markers with a swinging cover to protect it. The invention""s use of batteries or small solar cells provides the power to place text and digital photos/images on an LCD display relating to the deceased""s life, accomplishments, philosophy, genealogy, favorite photographs, or whatever they would like that could be rendered digitally.
In another embodiment, the invention is configured to place a smaller unit directly inside the coffin itself so that centuries from now if the remains were ever disturbed, people would know not only who this person was, but what their life was like. Mausoleums and crematory urns themselves likewise may have versions of this device adapted for their unique environments. This, in effect, serves the same function and psychological need as the extensive story-telling hieroglyphics in ancient Egyptian pyramids or large monuments to the famous, but in an obviously much smaller and less expensive form. But, unlike ancient royalty, the common man would now have the opportunity to chronicle his life with text and images through the use of this more affordable invention.
The present invention encompasses an electronic device which can be applied directly to a gravestone, crematory urn, mausoleum wall, or any commemorative object. The information regarding the deceased""s life is entered first as text and scanned images into a standard personal computer. This information could include the individual""s life history, genealogy, creative works, reflections on life, eulogies, accomplishments, digitally rendered photographs of self, family or important places, etc. This personal history can in a present embodiment comprise up to two hundred-fifty-six pages of information; but, as memory storage improves, this amount can be increased.
The information thus gathered is downloaded from a personal computer into the permanent custom memory of the user""s unit. The user""s personalized version of our product consists of non-volatile memory chips that are permanently etched with each person""s life story. The information thus stored uniquely for each individual is then routed to the product""s microprocessor-based control unit which passes the individual""s life story/photographs to a liquid crystal display on the outside of the unit.
The liquid crystal display (LCD) together with the control unit and personalized memory components draws power from a combination of redundant power sources, connected directly to the unit such that the individual""s life story scrolls continuously anytime it becomes activated.
The unit mounts tastefully onto new or existing gravestone markers, with a hinged bronze cover to protect it from direct environmental exposure.
The electronics are encased in a double layer of stainless steel. Mausoleums, crematory urns and other memorial products themselves would likewise have versions of this device adapted for their unique environments. The resultant product then fills, in effect, the same functions and psychological needs as the extensive story-telling hieroglyphics in ancient Egyptian pyramids or the large monuments to the famous, but in an obviously much smaller and less expensive form. Everyone would now have the opportunity to chronicle their life with text and images by means of a reasonably priced product.